Ya'll kill me with that reasoning. Look at what the dems are putting up, Hitlery, the robotic bitch and Osama, a one term Senator who is getting all of the juice because he's black and the libs are filled with white guilt. Hell, I believe Dave Chappell could run and he'd get as much if not more enthusiasm, plus he'd have more name recognition. On the republican side we have a Senator, a Goveroner, and a Mayor, why not a Congressmen? My gosh, I thought we elected people on ideas, a vision for our future and our collective security as a nation. If the Congressman is the one with the best platform why would you discount him and settle for less?
Please look up the elected offices that prior presidents have occupied before serving as president. Actually, here, I'll do it for you: Bush, governor of Texas; Clinton, governor of Arkansas; Bush, vice-president under Reagan and extensive employment history in the executive branch; Reagan, governor of California; Carter, governor of Georgia; Nixon, vice-president under Eisenhower.
The lone exception over the last 40 years is Gerald Ford. Note that Gerald Ford was not elected into the vice-presidential office, nor did he win his own presidential election against the former governor of Georgia. Ford was a former Representative.
The idea that the public prefers voting into executive office those who've held similar positions is a generally accepted idea of political science. What those candidates believe is important, but it's extremely difficult to discount this electoral trend.